election

Somali president opens door to talks as Mogadishu holds first one-person, one-vote polls in decades Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says “all doors are open” for dialogue with opposition over Somalia’s electoral process Banadir Regional Council elections mark Mogadishu’s first direct vote in more than 50 years Citywide lockdown and flight suspensions imposed as security forces secure polling MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pledged open dialogue with opposition leaders on Thursday and hailed Mogadishu’s…

Over 100 journalists trained in Somalia on election coverage, safety and disinformation Mogadishu — More than 100 Somali journalists have completed specialized training on professional election coverage, journalist safety and countering disinformation, in a program led by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and the National Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission of Somalia (NIEBC). The two-day training, held Dec. 16-17, 2025, brought together 102 reporters, editors and media practitioners from both private…

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), working with the National Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission of Somalia (NIEBC), has trained 102 journalists in professional election coverage, safety and countering disinformation ahead of the Banadir Regional Council elections set to start Thursday in Mogadishu. The two-day program brought together reporters, editors and media practitioners from 27 accredited outlets across the capital, spanning private and state-owned media. Organizers said the…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s federal government on Wednesday intensified security across Mogadishu ahead of a disputed Banadir local council election set for Thursday, June 25, deploying police and other forces along major roads and at key sites to safeguard the vote, officials said. Uniformed personnel were stationed on routes linking government facilities and around designated polling locations. Authorities said the measures are designed to protect the public and ensure the election proceeds without disruption in the…

Op-Ed: Somalia’s Election Standoff Is a Referendum on Its Post-Transition State Somalia’s election standoff is not just another dispute over timelines or term limits. It is a referendum on the country’s post-transition order—and on whether the political norms forged during debt relief and state-building can withstand a powerful presidency. The opposition-aligned National Consultation Conference in Kismayo has accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of constitutional violations, governance failures, and abandoning the fight…

Somalia’s latest political confrontation is more than a quarrel over election dates. It is a stress test of the country’s post-debt-relief political order—and, by extension, of the international state-building model that has underwritten Mogadishu’s progress for more than a decade. At the center is the National Consultation Conference, an opposition-aligned gathering that closed this week in Kismayo with a stark indictment of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government. Its communiqué accuses the presidency of…

KISMAYO, Somalia — A coalition of Somali opposition leaders on Saturday gave President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud one month to convene an inclusive national dialogue on elections, warning they will move to organize an alternative process if he fails to act by Jan. 20, 2026. In a communiqué issued after a three-day meeting in Kismayo from Dec. 18–20, the Somali Future Council (SFC) said an urgent, consensus-based agreement is needed to avert a “constitutional vacuum, security crisis and the threat of terrorism.” The newly formed…

Somalia’s 2026 choice: avoid a legitimacy crisis by fixing the election model, not the scoreboard Somalia is entering another high-stakes transition with too little time, too much polarization, and a volatile security map. The federal government’s drive to centralize authority while invoking universal suffrage risks breaking the very political settlement that has held the country together — imperfectly but functionally — for a quarter century. A safer way through 2026 is available: an improved, time-bound indirect election…

Jubaland Leader Warns Somali President Against Power Grab Amid 2026 Election Dispute KISMAYO, Somalia — Jubaland state President Ahmed Madobe on Thursday warned Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud against consolidating power, accusing the federal leader of advancing policies he once opposed and underscoring growing rifts ahead of Somalia’s 2026 elections. Speaking at the Somali Future Council conference in Kismayo, Madobe cast the gathering as a forum to confront political tensions and said Somalia’s governance must rest…

Analysis: Somalia’s ‘one person, one vote’ push risks crisis without consensus and constitutional safeguards Somalia’s federal government is advancing a “one person, one vote” election model it says will anchor the country’s democratic transition. But the process, as described by Puntland State State Minister of the Presidency Abdifatah Abdinur, suffers from deep constitutional, legal and practical flaws that threaten to compound — not resolve — Somalia’s political fragility. The concerns revolve around three pillars of any…